Devalok
Legend · 2 tellings · Pan-India

Subandhu's spirit is called back

Who is in it

Texts: Rigveda

The story, beat by beat

  1. Singers steady themselves and call a man's spirit back for sense, strength and life.
  2. They call it home from Yama, from sky and earth, the sea, the light, the plants, the mountains, from all that is and will be.
  3. They say his life is renewed and four times tell Nirriti to go to distant places.
  4. They ask Soma, Asuniti, Earth, Heaven and Pushan to restore sight, breath, body and path; they bless Subandhu by name.
  5. They praise King Asamati.
  6. They call Subandhu out, say his spirit is held for life and brought back from Yama, and heal him with their hands.

healing death spirit priests shame

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Rigveda 10.57-60

Pan-India All traditions

Four linked hymns. The first calls the spirit back; the second names twelve places it may have gone, beginning with Yama, each verse ending with the wish that it return to live and stay. The third says life is renewed, tells Nirriti four times to depart, and asks Soma, Asuniti, Anumati, Earth, Heaven and Pushan to restore the man; Subandhu is named. The fourth praises King Asamati, then calls Subandhu forth, says his spirit is held fast and has been brought from Yama, sends the pain downward, and ends with the healing hands. No cause of his state is given.

Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer § 10.57; Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer § 10.58; Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer § 10.59; Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer § 10.60

Primary text (translation)

Brihaddevata 7.84-102

Pan-India All traditions

King Asamati of Ikshvaku's line puts away his family priests, Bandhu and his brothers, for two crafty priests, Kirata and Akuli. The two become pigeons, attack the Gaupayanas, fell Subandhu and pluck out his spirit. The three remaining brothers mutter 10.57 as a blessing, 10.58 to turn his mind back, and the start of 10.59 to drive off Nirriti; they praise the king, and their mother adds a verse. The king comes to them ashamed. Agni tells them the spirit is kept safe within the sacrificial enclosure, gives it back and says 'Live'. They finish the hymn over the body and touch him when he revives.

What is different here:

Adds a cause (dismissed priests, sorcerers as pigeons), the brothers, their mother, the king's shame, and Agni as the one who guards and returns the spirit. The hymns have none of these.

The Brhad-devata attributed to Saunaka, ed. and tr. A. A. Macdonell (Harvard Oriental Series 6) § 7.84-102

Sources: Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer; The Brhad-devata attributed to Saunaka, ed. and tr. A. A. Macdonell (Harvard Oriental Series 6)

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